Daubechies wins BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award

Duke mathematician Ingrid Daubechies has won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences. The BBVA Foundation began awarding the prize in 2008 to celebrate basic research and creative works of excellence. Daubechies is recognized for her work in pure mathematics, "which have strongly influenced diverse fields of application ranging from data compression to pattern recognition," according to the selection committee's citation.

The committee was particularly impressed by Daubechies' work on "wavelets, which resulted in a new approach to data compression, with a strong impact on a multitude of technologies, including efficient audio and video transmission and medical imaging." She shares the prize of 400,000 euros with David Mumford, an emeritus professor at Brown University. They will receive the award, a diploma and commemorative artwork at a ceremony in June.